With a sharp pullback in gasoline prices offsetting higher prices for food and shelter, the Labor Department released a report on Wednesday showing U.S. consumer prices came in flat in the month of July.
The Labor Department said its consumer price index was unchanged in July after jumping by 1.3 percent in June. Economists had expected consumer prices to edge up by 0.2 percent.
Compared to the same month a year ago, consumer prices in July were up by 8.5 percent, reflecting a slowdown from the 9.1 percent spike in June.
The annual rate of price growth was expected to slow to 8.7 percent from the four-decade high seen in the previous month.
Meanwhile, the report said core consumer prices, which exclude food and energy prices, rose by 0.3 percent in July after climbing by 0.7 percent in June. Core prices were expected to increase by 0.5 percent.
The annual rate of core consumer price growth was unchanged at 5.9 percent, while economists had expected an acceleration to 6.1 percent.
